An urgent complaint was presented by the London-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, calling for urgent intervention on Israel’s closure of holy AlAqsa Mosque and violations of the freedom of worship.

In the memorandum, PRC sounded the alarm over Israel’s incessant violations of the freedom of worship by stepping up crackdowns on the Muslim worshipers, shutting the doors to holy AlAqsa Mosque, and setting up metal detectors near the main entrances to the site.

PRC said it believes the measures have also affected the members of the Christian community in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip whose members have been banned free access to their holy sites.

PRC said such Israeli measures represent direct contraventions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9 which grants “the freedom to exercise religion or belief publicly or privately, alone or with others” and “the freedom to exercise religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

The complaint warned that the Israeli government is rapidly expanding its Judization activities in Occupied Jerusalem, desecrating the holy sites of Muslims and Christians, and boosting settler break-ins at AlAqsa—the third holiest site in Islam.

In light of the above cited violations, PRC called on the Human Rights Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Jerusalem, issue an urgent statement to denounce the new Israeli measures, and take whatever necessary decisions within the Jurisdiction of the council to hold Israel to account.

The Palestinian Return Centre is an independent consultancy focusing on the historical, political and legal aspects of the Palestinian Refugees. The organization offers expert advice to various actors and agencies on the question of Palestinian Refugees within the context of the Nakba - The catastrophe following the forced displacement of Palestinians in 1948 - and serves as an information repository on other related aspects of the Palestine question and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It specializes in the research, analysis, and monitoring of issues pertaining to the dispersed Palestinians and their internationally recognized legal right to return.